‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 18: Dick Wolf still unsure when Donald Trump-inspired episode will air

So far in “Law & Order: SVU” season 18, we’ve seen a fairly rare phenomenon in which the episode getting the most attention is ironically one of the ones that has yet to even come on the air. We’re speaking here of course about “Unstoppable,” an episode that featured an appearance from Gary Cole (“Veep”) in the role of a powerful political candidate who tries to weather accusations made against him by various women. We anticipate that this is an episode that will leave people on edge, and that reaction may be one of the specific reasons why we haven’t seen it air just yet.

Originally, this installment was going to air before the Presidential Election, but it was delayed at that point to after it took place. Following Donald Trump’s win (there are similarities between Cole’s character and the President-Elect), the episode was delayed again, and even now there is no word as to when it will air. This is a subject that franchise creator Dick Wolf discussed at the TCA Winter Press Tour today, though he made it clear (per Entertainment Weekly) that he didn’t have a whole lot more in the way of news to pass along:

“One response to this: I don’t know when it’s going to air … The one piece of scheduling that I can announce is there’s an original SVU on tonight at 9, which is terrific. The episode is an episode that was written nine months ago. I don’t know when it’s going to air. They’ll tell me. I don’t control scheduling of individual episodes.”

Wolf later told the publication that the scheduling is “not a big issue,” and that it would air whenever it airs. He doesn’t seem to be overly concerned about a return date, so we’ll see over time if this is the right philosophy for him to have. We certainly do think that there could be some backlash in the event that the network does air it, but it’s hard to imagine it being worse than some of the things Trump has said already about “The Today Show” or “Saturday Night Live.”

If you missed it, head over here to read our exclusive interview with Peter Scanavino that we just posted earlier today! You can also tell us if you think this episode should air in the attached comments. (Photo: NBC.)